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Davey Richards
|weight = |birth_date = |death_date = |birth_place = Othello, Washington, United States> |resides = St. Louis, Missouri, United States |billed = Othello, Washington |trainer = Tony Kozina Paul Orndorff |debut = 2004 |retired = |children = 1 |spouse = }} Wesley David Richards (born March 1, 1983) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. Richards has also worked internationally in Pro Wrestling Noah through ROH's involvement in the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance, a global organization of cooperative promotions that allow their competitors to travel abroad to other companies, and in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Richards is a former two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion (with Rocky Romero). Professional wrestling career Early career (2004-2005) Prior to entering professional wrestling, Richards was an accomplished amateur wrestler in high school, as well as learning Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Richards began training in 2004 with Tony Kozina before making his debut in June of the same year in the Washington-based company, Pro Wrestling War against a wrestler named Mr. Sexy. Richards also spent time training with Paul Orndorff in Atlanta, while working at the same time at a Duracell factory an hour-and-a-half drive away in Cleveland, Tennessee. Dragon Gate and Dragon Gate USA (2009) While on tour in Japan for Dragon Gate in December 2009, Richards lost the FIP title to Masaaki Mochizuki. He would regain the title a month later at Fearless. In mid-2009, Richards began competing for Dragon Gate USA and performed at the promotion's Open the Untouchable Gate show, where he defeated Shingo Takagi. After his match, Bryan Danielson praised Richards and touted him as the best wrestler in the world, but Richards attacked Danielson claiming that he already deserved that title. On November 28, Richards competed in a tournament to determine the inaugural DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Champion, but lost to YAMATO in the first round. After BxB Hulk won the championship later that night, Richards challenged him to a championship match before attacking him. He also began competing for DGUSA's parent promotion, Dragon Gate, and completed a tour with them in December 2009. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2010–2012) In 2010 Richards was invited to take part in New Japan Pro Wrestling's Best of the Super Juniors tournament along with fellow North American and ROH wrestler, Kenny Omega. Richards entered the two-week-long tournament on May 30, but although he managed to win five out of his seven matches, he finished third in his block and narrowly missed advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. After the tournament Richards began working regularly for New Japan Pro Wrestling, joining the promotion's top heel stable CHAOS, and no longer made appearances for Pro Wrestling Noah. In November 2010 Richards and Rocky Romero, reviving the No Remorse Corps name, made it to the finals of a five-day-long Super J Tag League tournament, before being defeated by their Chaos team mates Gedo and Jado. On December 11, 2010, Richards received a shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion, Prince Devitt. On May 3, 2011, Richards and Romero unsuccessfully challenged Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi, known collectively as Apollo 55, for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. On May 26, Richards entered the 2011 Best of the Super Juniors tournament and after winning six out of his eight round robin stage matches, which included a win over the reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Prince Devitt, Richards finished second in his block and advanced to the semifinals of the tournament. On June 10, Richards was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by the eventual winner of the entire tournament, Kota Ibushi. On October 10, 2011, at Destruction '11, Richards and Romero defeated Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship for the first time. Richards and Romero made their first successful title defense on November 12 at Power Struggle, defeating the team of KUSHIDA and Tiger Mask. As a result of pinning Prince Devitt in the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match, Richards was granted another shot at his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on December 4, but failed in his attempt to become a double champion. On January 4, 2012, at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome, Richards and Romero lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship back to Devitt and Taguchi. On February 12 at The New Beginning, the No Remorse Corps defeated Apollo 55 to regain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. As a result, Richards received his third shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on March 10, but was yet again defeated by Prince Devitt. On May 2, Richards and Romero were stripped of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, after a car accident forced Richards to miss his flight to Japan and the following day's Wrestling Dontaku 2012 event, where the two were scheduled to defend the title against Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask. Despite being able to wrestle in the United States, New Japan also pulled Richards from the 2012 Best of the Super Juniors tournament, citing doctor's orders. Pro Wrestling Noah (2007; 2013) Richards has also done extensive tours of Japan, debuting in 2007 with Pro Wrestling Noah. He made a tour of the company again the following summer, competing in tag team matches. Richards was scheduled to return to Noah on November 27, 2013, working an entire tour, which would culminate in him challenging Taiji Ishimori for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship. However, on November 25, Richards announced that he had suffered a neck injury and would be forced to pull out of the tour. Personal life In 2008, Richards married Jennifer, better known as female professional wrestler Christie Summers. In addition to a short-lived career in professional wrestling, Jennifer is also a competitive bodybuilder in the figure class.St. Louis woman places in national bodybuilding competition The couple separated sometime in 2010, leading Richards to reevaluate his retirement plans.Davey Richards interview In a June 2010 interview, Richards stated that he planned to quit the wrestling business by the end of the year to concentrate on other areas of his life. However, he later withdrew those plans. Richards is a trained paramedic. In January 2015, Richards began dating fellow TNA wrestler Lauren Williams, better known as Angelina Love. The couple announced their engagement on April 27, 2015, and were married on June 10, 2015. On July 30, Williams announced on her Twitter account that she and Richards were expecting their first child, a boy named David Vincent Richards, born on March 17, 2016. In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **''14:59'' (Keylock) **Cloverleaf **''Creeping Death'' (Discus/sliding roundhouse kick to a kneeling opponent) – Evolve / TNA **Cross armbreaker **''DR Driver'' / Tiger Driver '98 (Double underhook piledriver, sometimes from the second rope) **''DR Driver II'' (Double underhook brainbuster) **Folding powerbomb – NJPW **Kimura with neckscissors **Sharpshooter – NJPW **Shooting star press *'Signature moves' **Ankle lock **Backbreaker **Diving leg drop **Double knee backbreaker **Fireman's carry gutbuster **''Horse Collar'' (Over the shoulder single leg Boston crab) **''Invader'' (Diving double foot stomp) **Lariat **Multiple kick variations ***''Alarm Clock'' / Go 2 Sleep II (Pop-up roundhouse to the opponent's midsection) ***''Damage Reflex'' (Handspring enzuigiri) ***Drop, sometimes from the top rope or while springboarding ***Multiple shoot, sometimes to a seated opponent **Multiple suplex variations ***German, sometimes from the top rope ***Saito ***Snap ***Tiger **Running elbow smash to a cornered opponent **Running powerslam **Running sitout powerbomb **Snap DDT **STO **Suicide dive *'With Rocky Romero' **'Double team finishing moves' ***''Contract Killer'' (Inverted Death Valley driver (Richards) / Springboard knee drop (Romero) combination) – NJPW *'Nicknames' **"The Lone Wolf" (ROH/NJPW/TNA) Championships and accomplishments *'New Japan Pro Wrestling' **IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Rocky Romero *''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' **PWI ranked him #'7' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2012 *''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' **5 Star Match (2012) vs. Michael Elgin on March 31 **Most Outstanding Wrestler (2011) **Tag Team of the Year (2009) with Eddie Edwards References External links *Ring of Honor profile *Dragon Gate USA profile *Full Impact Pro profile *Online World of Wrestling profile Category:Wrestlers Category:NJPW Roster Category:No Remorse Corps Category:Dragon Gate Alumini Category:Dragon Gate USA Roster Category:CHAOS Category:Gaijin